Sunday, June 7, 2009

Wired: Backstory on LCROSS

“I want to build a spacecraft and crash it into the moon. Don’t worry, it will only cost me $80 million.”

Lonnie MorganWired's Geek Dad

I doubt that is exactly how the conversation behind the idea for NASA’s LCROSS project was presented. But in essence, that is what is going to happen later this summer.

The LCROSS mission is designed to slam the expended upper stage of a Cenatur rocket into the south pole of the moon in the hopes that in the debris field from the resulting crater, we’ll see signs of water. A sheparding craft will drift behind the spent rocket and analyze the dust up. The shepard will also carry a camera, so it will be able to record the impact of the rocket, as well its own demise as it too crashes into the moon. Check out a cool animation of the mission here.